Lawmakers will hear testimony on proposed changes to the state’s cannabis laws

State lawmakers have scheduled a hearing later this month to begin efforts to update the rules that guide the troubled Cannabis Control Commission after more than a year of turmoil.

The Bay State Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy has scheduled an informational hearing for Wednesday, October 30, on “reconsidering” the law that created both the state’s vibrant marijuana industry and the CCC, responsible for the day-to-day operations of regulating Massachusetts’ largest crop profitable.”

“The Commission will invite various stakeholders in the Massachusetts cannabis industry to testify. The greatest concerns are about accountability for the agency’s activities and appropriate channels of accountability within the agency’s structure,” the committee wrote when announcing the hearing.

The fall hearings follow state Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro’s call for legislative intervention in the CCC, which he issued in response to gaps in the commission’s leadership and an apparently unclear division of staff responsibilities.

Shapiro, in a letter to lawmakers and in public testimony, described the agency responsible for regulating the $7 billion industry as effectively “rudderless” and in need of guidance on who is responsible for what.

Shapiro recommended the appointment of a receiver to begin overseeing operations until the Legislature can address the problems he believed were written into the statutes regulating the industry. These provisions, Shapiro said, make it unclear where the commissioners’ powers end and the CCC executive director’s responsibilities begin.

“The Cannabis Commission has shown many symptoms, its self-help measures have not worked, and now it is time to put a diagnosis and treatment plan in place,” the IG said in July.

In a letter sent to legislative leaders, committee members explained that they would like to revisit parts of state law that describe the roles of the CCC’s executive director and committee chair, but did not heed Shapiro’s calls to appoint a receiver. According to these lawmakers, there is a “legislative path to address the sources of concern about the CCC’s administrative function.”

“This path will include reconsidering certain provisions of the statute authorizing the CCC. The Committee’s greatest concern is the issue of responsibility for the agency’s activities and appropriate accountability channels within the agency’s structure,” they wrote then.

Legislators proposed changes to Chapter 10 of the MGL, Art. 76(h), which states that the Chairman of the Commission “shall have and exercise supervision and control over all affairs of the commission,” and in section (j) of the same chapter, which states the Executive Director of the CCC “shall be the executive and administrative head of the commission and shall be responsible for the administration and law enforcement with respect to the commission and each administrative unit thereof.”

The Commission also indicated that it would consider defining “commission” under the law, clarifying when the legislature meant agency-appointed commissioners and when it meant CCC staff.

People wishing to testify at the upcoming Hemp Policy Committee hearing must register in advance. Registration information can be found at https://malegislature.gov/Events.